Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

All too often we place new things into a category or bucket of like things in our mind and expect it work according to the rules of the category we’ve come to know. Some artists try to fit the label to a tee and in the broadest possible way, others try to expand the acceptable meaning of their given label. Certain bands resist any easy label at all preferring to bushwack their own path through the wilderness. The three bands in our Friday showcase last week were of this category, where each is a category unto themselves.

Hand-picked by Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band themselves as an opener (it was their EP release after all), Olympia trio You Are Plural was a mesmerizing mostly instrumental effort. North of Northwest favorite Wintersleep on the other hand are a pop band in the loosest sense of the word. As the volume and pace kept increasing through their set I couldn’t help think they weren’t simply following forms but instead keeping their nose to the grindstone seamlessly texturing grittier long jams into songs without losing focus. Their rhythmic goodness had a few folks absolutely screaming for them to return to the stage though they weren’t the headliner.

Recently Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band themselves have maybe scaled back the BPM and twists and turns for some of their more recent songs on their new EP, and as a result they’re arrestingly on-point in supporting bandleader Benjamin Verdoes’ voice which still does twist and turn. Much like a Dave Longstreth or a David Byrne, Verdoes’ unique vocal meter and energy is the warp and woof to this band’s originality, to be danced around or danced with depending on the song. That is if you can imagine a perpetually zig-zagging partner leading you where only he knows the direction of the dance. Better to keep it interesting I say, even if it makes you sweat.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Wintersleep ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

You are Plural ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth